Work Text:
***(Hoseok)***
The front door of the apartment slammed shut.
Hoseok, sitting sideways on the couch reading a book, raised an eyebrow in the direction of the entry, but declined to comment. Instead, he listened as his roommate stomped his way past the living room, into the hallway, and into his bedroom. He waited patiently for Yoongi to change out of his work clothes and then, when he heard the stomping around start up again, he set his book down in his lap and looked over with a carefully neutral expression.
He waited.
“This is the third time this month I’ve Visited and had to watch him take a shit,” Yoongi growled between clenched teeth. There were red splotches high on his cheeks. “I was in the middle of recording and lost the flow of the track because I had to watch him take a shit.”
“To be fair, looking around at his bathroom while he takes a shit isn’t exactly watching him,” Hoseok attempted to reason. Yoongi shook his head quickly.
“Oh, no. No, I mean watching him. They’ve got a mirror in front of the toilet. He uses the time to fix his fucking hair.”
Hoseok tried valiantly not to laugh. “At least he cares about self grooming.” Yoongi groaned and threw himself down on the couch. “Look, while it’s awkward now, at least you have a well-rounded view of your soulmate before you meet him. Isn’t a little awkwardness worth it, to see him at all?”
Yoongi sighed, finally calming a little. “I’d be less stressed if I could figure out where he lives. You know I’ve scoured the university records like four times but of the two Park Jimins on campus, both of them are over twenty. I have no idea where else to start looking. I just want to meet him so I can stop popping into his head at the weirdest times. I swear I’m going to stab myself and him if I have to see him on the toilet again.”
“When does your boy turn twenty, again?”
“October.” Yoongi knocked his head back against the sofa. “I’m not sure why I’m so unlucky. I know his name and his birthday, but I can’t seem to catch him while he’s walking by a university sign or using his schools’ website, and he doesn’t have any social media at all as far as I can tell.” He should know. He’d spent many a sleepless night helplessly searching through the Park Jimins of Twitter, Facebook - every website he could think of. It was a popular trend to keep off of social media in order to keep the first meeting between soulmates as organic as possible, but Yoongi had always hoped his soulmate wouldn’t be one of those romantics. Yoongi had, presumably, hoped wrong.
Hoseok reached out and ran a hand through Yoongi’s hair, prompting him to lean over and rest against Hoseok’s bent legs. “Even if you have to wait until he starts Visiting you in October, you’ll find each other, hyung.”
Yoongi blinked over at him with sad, dark eyes. “Not fast enough. He doesn’t even have a Twitter. How am I supposed to find the idiot before I turn eighty if I can’t even find him on Twitter?” His pout was legendary, truly, but Hoseok wasn’t going to feed into his whining. Yoongi’s whining was also legendary, and he wasn’t about to listen to it for another two hours.
“When you meet, it’ll make up for the waiting,” Hoseok told him gently. “I promise you. If he’s half as great as you’ve told me he is, he’ll be worth it.”
“Easy for you to say,” Yoongi grumbled. “You and Jihyun got in contact almost immediately after she turned twenty. You didn’t have to wait and watch her and want her even though you had no way to find or contact her.”
Hoseok had to give him that. He and his soulmate had it pretty easy – he himself had been almost nineteen before Jihyun (a year and a half older than him) had Visited while he was emailing someone. She’d remembered his email address and had messaged him her phone number less than half an hour later. Hoseok looked down at Yoongi’s head, resting on his knee, with a small frown. He really didn’t know anything about what Yoongi was feeling; he’d barely had an inkling of his soulmate’s existence before she’d come into his life, and because of his age when they met for the first time, he’d never had a Visit.
“Patience is a virtue,” Hoseok told Yoongi primly, because he didn’t have another answer. Then, just because he could, he set his book aside entirely and pulled Yoongi in for a hug. His hyung resisted weakly, but gave in once he realized the futility of it. “I promise he’ll be worth it.”
Yoongi let out a long breath, relaxing in Hoseok’s arms even if he didn’t quite hug back. “I hope so.”
*** (Yoongi) ***
The thing was, Yoongi really wasn’t that resentful of the Visits, he thought as he got ready for bed that night. Hoseok was right – it was better to Visit during an awkward time than not see your soulmate at all. At least he had Visits – some people didn’t, and he couldn’t imagine knowing he was alone in the universe. Yoongi was comforted every time he popped up in Jimin’s head to see things through his eyes for a little while. He wished he didn’t have to do it while Jimin was using the toilet, or examining the infected scrape on his knee in some kind of gross fascination, but the fact that it happened at all was reassuring.
Even more to the point, Jimin was probably the most perfect soulmate Yoongi could ask for, weird hair care habits included. Yoongi had watched him dance via studio mirrors, listened to him sing, and watched him be kind to his parents and friends and old ladies he didn’t know. Yoongi knew that Jimin was hardworking, empathetic, and talented as hell. He laughed too loud and smiled so big his eyes crinkled. He was the kind of person who cried during Disney movies and all Yoongi wanted to do was hug him and pinch his cheeks even though he’d scoff and tease any of his friends if they did the same thing. Yoongi was so soft for him it was stupid, and he hadn’t even met the boy yet.
None of that make it any easier, the waiting. He knew he would love Park Jimin (and in truth already did), and it made the waiting worse. Sometimes, without meaning to, he found himself daydreaming about getting sucked back into Jimin’s head, just because he was wondering how Jimin’s day was going: the exact sappy, ridiculous shit he’d always teased his older friends about before he’d turned twenty himself.
He curled onto his side in bed, huffing to himself. He was a sap, and if he was being honest, he was already looking forward to the next Visit. He sighed a little, digging his cheek into his pillow to get comfortable, and hoped that the next Visit would be something normal (and maybe a little sweet, like that time he’d watched Jimin take cute cat-ear headband selfies with his best friend).
He finally closed his eyes, and was ready to sleep the longing in his chest away, when he was pulled into another Visit. He wanted to groan, but already he was losing sense of his own body and his vocal chords made no sound.
He took a minute to orient himself in Jimin’s head, to figure out what he was hearing and seeing. Those two senses worked just fine, but he only had the vaguest impressions of physical sensation, which was why it took him a long moment to realize that Jimin had his hand below his pajama bottoms and was covering his mouth with his other hand to stifle the sounds he was making.
A traumatizing two minutes later, Yoongi found himself glaring at his ceiling with a hard on and a racing heart, feeling a little intrusive and a lot irritated. Awkward toilet Visit and an awkward masturbation Visit all in one day? It had to be a sign.
He had to find Park Jimin.
***
Both a blessing and a curse was the fact that Yoongi was the only person in his friend group still single. Hoseok had Jihyun, and Namjoon and Seokjin had found each other in a coffee shop meet-cute like a romcom a month after Namjoon had turned 19.
(The story, which Yoongi had only heard about eight thousand times, went something like this: Jin, a handsome barista, was playing Anipang on his phone with headphones in and not paying any attention to the coffee shop he worked at. Jin, also being a shitty barista, had missed the customer in front of him trying to get his attention for about two minutes, and only glanced up when the customer had asked “are you really getting paid for this?” and reached out to cover the screen of his phone. That customer had been Namjoon.)
Yoongi still wasn’t sure why Namjoon hadn’t pushed away the crazy man who had shrieked at the sight of him and then leaned in to kiss him over the counter without so much as a hello, but he wasn’t in much of a position to criticize. They had their soulmates, which Yoongi couldn’t say for himself.
He was lucky he had the friends he did, and he knew it. Hoseok was his confidant, and Namjoon and Jin enthusiastically played the part of his old mated dads (ignoring, for a moment, that Yoongi was older than Namjoon). Being mated already meant all three of his friends had plenty of advice to share, and were incredibly supportive, whether he was lonely or dead to the world in a Visit.
He'd once Visited Jimin during a group dinner, and Hoseok had just sat there, petting his hair while he’d sat motionless, eyes closed, with one hand still wrapped around his fork. Across from them, Jin had reached over to take his free hand and gently rub his thumb over Yoongi’s knuckles. When he’d come back, the soothing touches had helped to reorient him and Namjoon had talked him through what they'd been discussing calmly, with gentle reassurances that they didn't mind pausing the conversation for a couple minutes.
Yoongi loved his friends, even if he didn’t say it often. That said? They were no fucking help.
After his breakdown with Hoseok (and two more awkward Jimin visits - one involving him in the shower and another involving him falling on his face during his dance practice), Yoongi decided that clearly, Fate needed a little push when it came to him and Jimin. He was ready to be done with Visits and begin the inevitable embarrassingly smitten couple phase. He was ready for it, and clearly he needed some help coming up with a plan.
That line of thinking led him to the Kim doorstep, and into the loving, supportive hands of Kim Seokjin’s terrible ideas.
“Your advice is to break into government archives,” Yoongi said flatly. Just to clarify. Because surely he was hearing things incorrectly.
Jin just nodded at him, eyes huge and earnest. Too earnest. “The government would have his name and birthday. Then you could narrow down your search! It’s not the first time someone’s done it. It’s plausible, right?” He looked over at Namjoon and gave him a shit-eating grin, fully aware of both of their unimpressed expressions.
Yoongi took a bite of his burger. Namjoon gave his boyfriend a side-eye. “I’m pretty sure everyone who’s ever been caught doing it has also gotten arrested for it, and even if it weren’t illegal, do we even know anyone capable of doing it?” Namjoon asked. Yoongi, sitting cross legged on the floor in front of the couch his friends were sat on, just raised an eyebrow up at Jin.
There was a pause. “No.” Then, Jin snickered. “Okay, so I never said it was a great idea. I just said it was an idea.”
“Because you’re awful,” Yoongi said flatly, rolling his eyes. Namjoon snorted. “Moving on. We need viable ideas. You two met because of luck - I am clearly not as blessed, so I need cold, hard strategy.”
Namjoon sighed and set his plate on the coffee table Yoongi was using as a dinner table. “So Twitter has nothing. Matcher has nothing. Facebook, zilch. Basically, all social media is out.”
Yoongi nodded. “As far as I can tell. He might have accounts that aren’t under his own name, but I doubt it. I haven’t seen him use any of them.”
“It’s cute that he wants your meeting to be genuine, you know,” Jin said, no longer teasing. He gave Yoongi a fond look. “It seems irritating now, but imagine how sweet it’ll be to run into each other for the first time! That’s why I never stalked Joonie’s school or anything to find him. I wanted it to be real.”
“Yeah, but I would rather us meet before I’m 50. I’m sick of waiting,” Yoongi said, running a hand through his hair. He was trying not to be irritated at Jin, but the bleeding heart romantic shit could wait until after Yoongi had found his soulmate. The sooner the better. Then, when Jin started making aw faces at him, to cover up his own bleeding heart romantic shit, he added, “I’m really sick of popping into his head only to watch him pop zits. I want to meet so I can stop Visiting while he’s being gross. I know it’s not his fault - everyone has gross moments and bodies do weird shit and I get that, but I also don’t want to watch it.”
Jin made a face at him, as though disappointed in his lack of romance but Yoongi knew for a fact Jin had his own handful of awkward Visits he would never tell Namjoon about, so he could take his unimpressed expression and shove it.
Namjoon looked entirely too amused. “Okay, fine. You’re that desperate to stop Visiting while he’s taking a shit?” Yoongi glared at him and made a mental note to yell at Hoseok for gossiping about him, but Namjoon continued unphased. “Be desperate. Put an ad online. If it gets enough views there’s a chance someone will see it who knows him. Besides, those types of posts go viral all the time - people love feeling like they’re helping out a love story.
“Or make a sign and go holding it up at other universities!” Jin suggested, almost gleeful.
Yoongi stared the both of them down. “... an ad.”
Namjoon nodded. “Yeah, man. Put up an ad. Seeking: a man named Jimin. Birthday… whenever his birthday is. Likes this, that, and the other thing. Has blah blah colored hair and an eye smile - don’t look at me like that, you keep fucking talking about it. Y’know. Normal shit. Enough so that it’s vague and won’t put all his personal info online, but specific enough that people who know him will be able to say ‘oh, that’s my Jimin.’ Perfect solution.”
The bad thing? It kind of sounded like a good idea.
“Okay,” Yoongi said slowly. “That… that I can probably work with.”
***
The tweet he crafted ended up a little surly and perhaps too specific, but suitable. He hoped.
@glossd: soulmate wanted. First name Jimin. Has eye smiles, blonde hair, and a really infectious laugh. Too nice for his own good & is a dancer. Can’t find him online & I’m about to lose my mind. Lives somewhere in Seoul. Help?
Specific, but vague enough not to put all of his soulmate’s personal info online. Yoongi double checked it with Namjoon and Hoseok - Jin was still grounded from helping after suggesting that Yoongi write a rap about Jimin and perform it at various universities - and, with their approval, tweeted it.
He was forced to plug his phone in in his room after staring at his twitter feed anxiously for twenty minutes, and he told himself that even if tweeting didn’t work, there would be other ideas.
Two hours later, the tweet had three hundred retweets - many from people who went to Yoongi’s school, hoping to help out a classmate - and he started to realize the twitter ad plan might actually work.
*** (Taehyung ***
Taehyung was a self proclaimed very-good-world-champion best bro, which was why, when he saw a tweet with five thousand retweets looking for a dancer named Jimin whose long list of attributes were intimately familiar, his first thought was do I have to kick a stalker’s ass?
He could recall at least three recent news stories about stalkers who pretended to be the soulmates of people under twenty in order to trick them into relationships, and it rarely ended well for the victim who inevitably had their first Visit and learned of the deception. Taehyung was not about to let Jimin become a statistic, and so he glared at the tweet for a good twenty minutes trying to figure out what to do about it.
Part of him wanted to call the guy a phony and yell at him for trying to trick Jimin, but he also had the nagging feeling that the guy was for real.
Regardless, Jimin was adamant about wanting to meet his soulmate as organically as possible. His parents had done the same thing and it had been really romantic, if the stories were to be believed. It meant a lot to him - enough that he didn’t have social media of his own - and Taehyung was not going to be the guy that helped crush that dream, especially not without even knowing if the “soulmate” was dangerous. He also, however, couldn’t totally ignore the tweet.
He direct messaged the guy.
If you’re seriously Jimin’s soulmate, delete the tweet now please. I’m his best friend.
He didn’t want one of Jimin’s classmates seeing the tweet and telling him, sending him right into the arms of a stalker, or at the very least ruin the meet-cute Jimin had been fantasizing about for years. It was his job as best friend. If there were best friend soulmates, he would be Jimin’s, and he would take his job seriously, damn it.
He waited for several long minutes for the guy to respond. No response. Irritated with himself for being so easily caught, he threw his phone down and went to go make a bowl of ramyun.
Half an hour later, he went back to get his phone only to find he had a response from @glossd. Before reading it, he went to the “soulmate’s” profile. The tweet was indeed gone, and Taehyung scoured the bio with narrowed eyes.
Min Yoongi. Producer, rapper. Probably too tired for this shit.
That was it. His profile picture was of a young man - Taehyung would peg him as a few years older than he and Jimin - with seafoam green hair and a face mask obscuring most of his face. Not unusual, but suspicious, given the circumstances.
He went back into his direct messages and read Min Yoongi’s reply.
You’re Taehyung? Your @ is @taetae so I would assume so but...
Then,
Oh I looked through a couple of your photos. You are definitely Taehyung. Sorry.
I did delete the tweet, by the way.
Several minutes later, he’d also added
I really am Jimin’s soulmate. I’m 22. I’ve been dreaming about him for ages & really want to meet him.
Taehyung pursed his lips and sat down cross legged on his bed. It wasn’t that he didn’t believe the guy, but… better safe than sorry. Besides, who else got the chance to make sure their best friend’s soulmate was a) legit and b) a decent person before they even met? He could prevent a lot of heartbreak if it turned out Yoongi was an asshole and he could warn Jimin beforehand.
Tell me his last name “soulmate.” I wanna make sure we’ve got the same dude before I go telling anyone anything.
He waited less than a minute before three dots popped up on the screen.
It’s Park. Park Jimin.
Okay, so definitely the same Jimin. Taehyung bit his lip, conflicted - on one hand, the guy seemed real so far, but it was easy to fake intimate soulmate info, especially in the age of hacking laptop and phone cameras. Jimin was still months away from having Visits himself, so it wasn’t like Taehyung could just check with him.
Taehyung didn’t respond for a long time, trying to figure out what to do. With half an hour before Jimin was scheduled to come home, it came to him. It wouldn’t hurt to get to know the guy that would probably end up marrying his best friend, and he could vet the guy before handing him off to Jimin.
He looked down at his phone with a growing grin. Brilliant.
*** (Yoongi) ***
Yoongi looked down at his phone with his mouth dropped slightly open. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing, and it took several minutes of deep breathing and wrestling back his anger before he could even respond.
What do you mean you’re not going to tell Jimin about me? He’s my soulmate! That’s why I tweeted the fucking thing it’s bc I want to get in contact with my soulmate.
Seriously Taehyung. What do I have to do to get you to believe I’m his sm? I wouldn’t lie about this & I don’t know how to prove it to you. I’m not a stalker or anything like that
The entire point of the tweet was to meet Jimin soon, so he didn’t have to wait two more months for a chance that Jimin would Visit and find him first. If Taehyung wasn’t going to tell Jimin about him, what was the point? Yoongi was two seconds away from tearing his hair out when Taehyung responded.
Chill! I never said you were I just implied it lol.
I want you to be my friend.
If you’re really who you are, we’ll be friends anyway and this way I can make sure you’re legit AND get to know you. Plus then you and Jimin can still have your fairytale destined meet-up the way he wants.
Yoongi gritted his teeth, only too aware of the way his nails were biting into the palm of his free hand.
Taehyung. This whole thing is happening bc I didn’t want to wait for the “fairytale destined meet-up.” Please just tell him about me. That’s what tweeted for in the first place.
… suck it up buttercup
Lol
And you can’t re-tweet it dude you’ve got to be my friend eventually anyway, soulmate-best-friend rules, so you should be nice to me now.
Or do you wanna start on the wrong foot with your soulmates bff?
Show him you’re not serious about him and being a part of his life before you even meet
Show me that you’re just an asshole so that I can tell Jimin you didn’t want anything to do with me & you refused to honor Jimin’s wishes of meeting naturally? ??
Are you blackmailing me
Yes is it working
Fuck you Kim Taehyung
xxx xxxx is my phone number. I refuse to use twitter to talk all the time.
He just knew that somewhere in Seoul, Kim Taehyung was pumping his fist in victory.
***
Within less than a week, he found himself in a constant back and forth of twenty questions, bitching about their days, and talking about Jimin. The worst part was that - in spite of himself and his own irritation about the situation - he actually kind of liked the kid. Taehyung was friendly and good-natured, and almost as kind as Jimin, which was saying something. He even told good jokes every once in a blue moon.
He could understand Taehyung’s protectiveness. Yoongi knew that it really would be easy for a stalker to fake soulmate info, and he didn’t know what he would do if something happened to Jimin. He understood that Jimin’s safety was paramount, to both him and Taehyung.
However, he was 90% sure that Taehyung was legitimately just fucking with him. Taehyung had to believe him, but was holding back on telling Jimin literally because he wanted to have a leg up on the situation and to honor Jimin’s wishes about meeting naturally, much to Yoongi’s ire.
Yoongi had always been one of those people who didn’t understand the whole organic-meeting movement. It was theorized that the entire reason soulmates had Visits was to gain enough information to identify and seek out one’s soulmate - so Yoongi didn’t get why some people didn’t want to use that information to their advantage.
The longer he thought about it, though, the more he resigned himself to waiting. It helped that Taehyung had explained the cute Park parents meet up as well, which explained why Jimin was so determined to recreate the magic. To be honest, it was kind of cute, and Jimin deserved a similarly cute meeting.
Yoongi just didn’t understand why he couldn’t manufacture a meet-cute. Jimin never had to know it was planned.
Taehyung vetoed that plan, and so they went.
Question of the day Yoongi hyung: fave flavor of cotton candy go
Hoseok gave him a brief glance from the other end of the couch when Yoongi made an aish sound aloud, but didn’t say anything. Last time he had, Yoongi had ranted for a full fifteen minutes about Taehyung being a pain in his ass and Hoseok had, at the end of it, nodded and swore to himself not to bring the kid up again.
They literally all taste the same don’t tell me they don’t
It’s pure sugar
No blue anything has a particularly blue taste if you can’t tell that it’s not my fault.
Whatever you say kid
⊙ ︿ ⊙
… So what’s he doing now
Is he still watching cat videos on youtube
If he is, you should send me a snapchat with the cat filter. I think they still have that one up today
The amount of secretive Jimin snaps I send you is alarming. How did I get roped into this.
Yoongi frowned. He was the one getting blackmailed. The least Taehyung could do was send him cute snapchats of Jimin. It wasn’t like he never got to see him, but Visiting and having a static photo that he could save and revisit when he felt particularly lonely was a totally different thing.
He was about to tell Taehyung as much when the snap came through. He grinned a little, opened the message, and screenshotted it before the timer ended.
These must remain secret he’ll kill me if he finds out about them later
He’s shy :(
He’s beautiful
Taehyung didn’t respond for a long moment, but when he did, it was preceded by a long string of laughing emojis.
You’re cute lmao you’re so sarcastic and mean right up until Jimin comes up it makes me laugh every time
Be respectful. I’m your hyung.
And I’m not mean. Or cute
“Am I mean?” he asked Hoseok, eyebrows furrowed. “I know I’m a little surly, but I’m not mean, right?”
Hoseok shrugged. “You can be, but not usually. Is the kid being sassy again?”
“Yes.” Another message came through.
Nah you’re not mean （＾ｖ＾）but you are cute!! Favorite hyung!!
Yoongi couldn’t help but grin a little. So the kid was growing on him.
Later that night, he Visited for a couple minutes after dinner, and for once, he didn’t complain about Taehyung’s constant presence to himself. Instead, he just settled into Jimin’s head and watched half-fondly as Jimin and his best-friend-soulmate-roommate played Mario and giggled back and forth.
***
Yoongi spent a lot of sleepless nights going through the photos of Jimin he’d amassed through Taehyung. It was only one more - but it was his fourth that week, and there was a weariness settled deep into his bones.
He was lonely. He’d been lonely for a while, and hadn’t even had a weird toilet Visit lately to justify his desire to meet Jimin. It was hard from him to share his emotions sometimes, and though he knew that Hoseok knew he was lonely - and that he really was smitten with Jimin, the way Taehyung sometimes laughed about - it was still hard for him to admit it, even when it ate him up inside.
His phone wallpaper was a photo Taehyung had sent him of a smiling, pink-cheeked Jimin. It was from after a dance performance, and Jimin’s hair was a mess. He was covered in sweat, looked exhausted, and yet… and yet Yoongi found it hard to look away from his bright eyes or his proud grin.
You suck and i want my soulmate, he sent to Taehyung in a spot of pettiness.
He didn’t even want to know how loud Taehyung’s ringtone must be that it woke him up. He hadn’t been expecting a reply until morning.
Why are you awake? It’s like 3am hyung. And i already told you not yet
Yoongi hated the way he automatically frowned a little deeper, curling his knees up tighter to his chest.
I can’t sleep he typed out carefully. And then, with another surge of pettiness rising up, he added, and screw you for thinking you have the right to play around in either of our lives.
Yoongi didn’t get a reply for several long minutes - long enough for him to berate himself for being so harsh, even if he did sort of believe it. Did he understand Taehyung wanting to get to know him (and ensure he’s safe and not a stalker)? Yes. Did he understand wanting to honor Jimin’s wishes? Also yes. Did that either of those things help him sleep alone, or stop him from missing someone he’d never met? No.
Eventually, Taehyung responded.
I’m trying to do right by jimin. But i’m sorry you can’t sleep.
He didn’t know what to say, and didn’t respond. After a while, however, he got another text.
Do you want me to tell you about *my* love life problems to help?
…
Sure
And Taehyung, in a rare serious mood, told him about Jeongguk.
***
Jin laughed at him when he first saw that Taehyung’s name in Yoongi’s phone was “tae.”
“My name is still Seokjin in your phone!” he cackled. “And this kid you claim to hate gets a nickname? You’re so soft on your dongsaengs.”
Yoongi shifted away from Jin, who had been casually reading over Yoongi’s shoulder. He glared down at his phone and turned the screen off. “Yeah, and I hate my hyung,” he said, rolling his eyes, and watched with a little grin as Jin cackled even louder, knowing for a fact he was lying.
The truth was that Jin was right; he was pretty soft on Taehyung. It had started mostly because Taehyung made him feel a little bit closer to Jimin, but as the weeks passed and Taehyung opened up to him more, Yoongi just grew to like him as a person. Sure, he was lively in a way that Yoongi suspected he’d only be able to handle in small doses, but Yoongi could deal with that.
Even more surprisingly, Yoongi somehow had become Taehyung’s go-to confidant when it came to matters of the heart - or matters of the Jeon Jeongguk, as it so happened. It was easier, Taehyung had explained, to talk to someone who didn’t know Jeongguk and wouldn’t have to keep secrets. Jimin knew about the Epic Crush, but he also got awkward sometimes when hanging out with both of them, and Taehyung hated doing that to him. Ergo, Yoongi.
He didn’t mind, though, because it meant that when Taehyung was done angsting over his oblivious love interest, Yoongi could talk about his unavailable one. It worked out for both of them.
***
“What if I tell him and he absolutely hates me?”
Yoongi was lying in bed, one arm propping his head up and the other keeping his phone pressed to his ear. “What if you tell him and he confesses back?” he drawled. He was pretty sure, all evidence on hand, that Jeongguk probably felt the same way Taehyung did. He hadn’t seen them interact much during Visits (probably because Jimin would awkwardly look away any time something mildly interesting happened, hoping to avoid giving things away and to give them a moment of pseudo-privacy), but those few instances on top of Taehyung’s retellings gave Yoongi the impression that they were both stupid and oblivious.
“What if he does and then I turn twenty and he doesn’t want to be with me anymore because I’ll be Visiting some other guy?”
“What if you turn twenty and you don’t Visit at all because it’s him?” he countered. Taehyung made a hilarious frustrated sound on the other end, and Yoongi snorted a little to himself. Drama queen. “Look, dating before your first Visit is always a gamble, but you’re nuts for this kid, so who says you can’t at least give it a try?”
“Did you date before your first Visit?” Taehyung asked, slightly whiny and genuinely curious. “You only ever talk about Jimin.”
Yoongi shifted in bed, feeling a little awkward. It was normal to date before the first Visit, but Yoongi didn’t often like to admit to it. He’d forbade Hoseok, Namjoon, and Jin from even bringing it up, because after his first few Visits he couldn’t fathom being with anyone but Jimin any longer, and thinking about his past dating experiences made him feel wrong.
Without being entirely sure why he did, he told Taehyung the truth. “Yeah, I did. A bit. I dated a few guys, a girl or two. I don’t date anymore, but it felt normal before.” He shrugged, even though Taehyung couldn’t see it.
“... before? It doesn’t feel normal now?”
He sighed. “Now I can’t imagine ever wanting someone who isn’t Jimin. I don’t feel particularly happy about having dated anyone else in the first place; it feels disloyal now that I know my soulmate’s out there, you know?”
Taehyung was quiet for a long time. “I don’t ever want to resent Jeongguk, or… regret being with him. Maybe it’s not worth it, if I’ll feel that way later.”
“Kid, there are people who find their soulmates and don’t even like them. There are people who totally disregard their soulmates, who abuse them, who find love with other people and then say sorry, I’m already happy when they meet their mate. I’m not saying you will feel the way I did. I fell in love with Jimin, and that’s why I regret my dating history, because I could have waited for that love instead of dating people I didn’t love just for company and sex. You’re not like me. You want to date Jeongguk because you’re already in love with him. You could be totally happy with Jeongguk. You could turn out to be his mate. A lot of things could happen, and won’t if you don’t at least try.”
“You really love Jimin, huh?”
Yoongi snorted. “Why do you think I’m still putting up with you even though you won’t introduce us?” Taehyung snorted a laugh himself.
“Because I’m awesome and you love me,” Taehyung answered smugly. Then, a little awkwardly, he asked, “So… you really think I should do it? Tell Jeongguk, I mean.”
“Mmhmm,” Yoongi answered, yawning. Taehyung began to say something, and Yoongi went to shift in bed - to keep from falling asleep, not to get more comfortable, because Taehyung had complained at him once already that week for falling asleep while they talked - only to find that he wasn’t in bed.
Or, rather, Jimin wasn’t.
He hoped that Taehyung wouldn’t be angry about his radio silence, and then promptly forgot Taehyung existed.
Jimin seemed both exhausted and frustrated, judging by the stiff way his body moved and the pinched look on his face. With every move he breathed sharply in through his nose, letting out angry gusts of breath on the exhale. Yoongi didn’t even want to know how long he’d been in the studio.
Yoongi watched as Jimin glared at himself in the mirror, going over a step sequence. When he messed up - though Yoongi couldn’t tell exactly where - he growled under his breath and started over.
He knew that Jimin tended to be hard on himself - he took criticism to heart, and would put his own well being last if it meant proving his worth or meeting someone else’s standards. It had been a long week for him, which Yoongi had known and couldn’t do anything about, except prodding Taehyung to be extra nice to his best friend, but he hadn’t realized that Jimin was stressing himself out this badly.
Taehyung had told him earlier that Jimin’s practice had started at noon, and was supposed to end at seven.
Last time Yoongi had checked the time, it was nearing on eleven-thirty, and he knew that it wasn’t even the first time Jimin had stayed late that week.
Jimin messed up the step sequence again. Yoongi put it down to exhaustion more than a lack of ability, but by the crumpled expression Jimin gave himself in the mirror, he doubted his soulmate saw it that way. Jimin sat down cross-legged on the floor, and put his face in his hands. Yoongi barely had the chance to hear a muffled, tired half-sob before he became aware of his own body again.
He blinked, then stiffly pulled his phone away from his ear. Taehyung had hung up on him over a minute ago.
Carefully, he typed, please go get jimin from the studio. He needs to sleep and he probably hasn’t eaten today.
Then, he added with a wince, Sorry for Visiting during our phone call.
Taehyung replied a couple minutes later.
I understand! I’ll leave and go get him now. Thank you for letting me know
Fair warning he’s probably going to fight you on it. He’s not happy with a dance move rn and it’s getting worse the more exhausted he is. Grab some food when you go
Will do. Talk tomorrow, hyung
Ttyl
Even knowing that Taehyung would take care of Jimin, Yoongi couldn’t sleep until Taehyung texted him to let him know Jimin was safely in bed.
***
What do you mean you chickened out
I mean I went to tell Guk and… completely froze and panicked and didn’t say anything. And then he asked me if I was a Sim and the player cancelled my action
Which lol was pretty accurate
Taehyung why I had such high hopes
I want to punch myself in the face and then kiss jeongguk because apparently I can’t just say it
Please don’t just kiss him smh we are adults we handle things with our words.
But seriously
You care a lot. That’s not a bad thing and when you do eventually get it together and tell him he’ll understand that you froze up because you didn’t want to mess up or ruin things
Do you worry about meeting jimin and messing things up like that
I know it’s different because you’re sm but do you OR AM I JUST SUCK
Doesn’t everyone? But I have faith that we’ll be okay because we’re soulmates and we’ll be meant for each other so even if I do get awkward and pull a taehyung jimin will forgive me. And vice versa. And you and jeongguk also have a bond that will help you pull through together.
“PULL A TAEHYUNG” THE D I S R E S P E C T
Lol
… thanks hyung
Np. Keep fighting, ok?
( ง •̀ω•́) ง ✧
***
When it finally happened, a month and a half out from Jimin’s twentieth birthday, Yoongi honestly didn’t see it coming.
He was shopping for dinner that night, because Hoseok had a dance competition and, while Yoongi had planned to cook him a congratulatory dinner to the best of his abilities, they literally had nothing in the apartment to cook with. He was glaring at a row of vegetables, trying to reconcile his hatred of mushrooms with Hoseok’s love of them for the sake of friendship, when his attention was drawn away by the feeling of eyes on him.
He glanced around, only to find someone about his height turning his head quickly around. His ears were pink. Yoongi shrugged it off, returning his attention to the food. He people-watched, too - he was just better at not getting caught. Besides, it could always be someone from campus who recognized him and was trying to place him. Who knew.
He glanced back over only to find the boy looking again. He was wearing a black face mask and had a hat over his blonde hair, but something about him was familiar. Yoongi raised an eyebrow, only for the boy - definitely a younger man - to quickly return to shoving snacks in his basket awkwardly. He huffed a short laugh and rolled his eyes.
Yoongi spent half a minute debating whether or not to say something (like “I’m not interested” or “I’m mated,” even though he wasn’t yet, really), but the boy moved instead to go past him, looking pointedly away with pink cheeks poking out from his mask.
He only came close enough for Yoongi to meet his eyes for a split second before he passed by, the kid giving him one last glance before moving on, but that was more than enough for it to click. He knew those eyes. He’d seen them in the mirror a hundred times, had looked at them in photographs and snapchats. He knew those eyes, and now that he was paying attention, he knew that ever-so-slightly waved blonde hair, too.
“Jimin-ah?”
He flushed immediately. He hadn’t meant to be so familiar, but the damage was done. Jimin was spinning around to face him, eyes huge. One hand reached up and tugged his mask down, revealing a gorgeous mouth turned down into a confused frown.
“Do I… know you?”
Yoongi’s mouth got the better of him. “You kept staring like you did.”
Jimin’s cheeks turned an adorable shade of red. Yoongi wanted to keep him forever. “I’m sorry - you’re just… cute.” When Yoongi blinked a little in response, raising his eyebrow again, Jimin brought a hand up to cover his eyes, looking embarrassed enough to cry. “I mean. I was just appreciating that you were attractive. And I don’t want to date before I find my soulmate, so I promise I’m not coming on to you, and I’m really sorry I bothered you. I just thought you were cute. You look like an idol, and I’ve never seen someone as attractive as you out in public before, and I’m going to shut up now. And I’m sorry. Again.”
Yoongi took a moment to process, but before he even finished a smile crept across his mouth without his permission. “Hn. I’m the cute one?” Making Jimin blush was going to be a hobby; he could already tell. “You’re not bothering me,” he added gently when Jimin started shifting between one foot and the other like he was preparing to run away. “I just didn’t know it was you before, so I didn’t get why some stranger was staring.”
“So… you do know me?” Jimin asked, rubbing the back of his neck with his hand. He was a little awkward, a little unsure, but Yoongi already loved him. Whether he knew it or not, there was very little he could do to turn Yoongi away.
He nodded. “I’m Min Yoongi.” He would figure out how to use proper words to explain himself eventually, he was sure. He took a deep breath, preparing to just say it, when Jimin interrupted.
“Oh! My friend Taehyung has a hyung named Yoongi. Is that how you know me?” He was brightening a little, pushing past the embarrassment into the typical Jimin friendliness.
It was Yoongi’s turn to be awkward, though. “I mean. Not really? I’m Taehyung’s Yoongi-hyung, yeah, but I… found him through you? Sort of?”
Jimin’s puppy eyes were going to be the death of him. “I don’t understand.”
Yoongi sighed deeply, blushing and bad at words right at the moment when he needed to be good at them. “So, it’s really a funny story. Um.” He glanced around, realizing where they were. He paused for a moment, then cocked his head at Jimin. “You want to go get coffee with me?”
Jimin looked down at his basket of snacks and energy drinks, then pulled out his phone to check the time. “I can probably do coffee.”
Jimin settled in front of him with a caramel latte and a muffin. His shopping bag sat next to Yoongi’s on the empty table next to them. “So, this funny story you were gonna tell me,” he prompted, nodding at Yoongi to go ahead. Yoongi took a sip of his own coffee just to give himself a moment to buffer.
“This story is actually kind of invasive,” he admitted, just to cover his bases. “And I’m sorry for that? But I’m kind of hoping you’ll find it more charming than invasive, and if you don’t, you should blame Taehyung for just about all of it.”
“Blame Taehyung, got it,” Jimin said, a little alarmed and a lot bemused. “But do I get to find out what I’m blaming him for?”
Yoongi nodded. “Yeah, you’re blaming him because he’s a nuisance.” Jimin snickered, but raised an eyebrow, patiently waiting for Yoongi to elaborate. He swallowed and continued. “We met two months ago – two or two and a half. Around there. I’m 22, and I didn’t want to wait for my soulmate anymore, because I’m kind of impatient and also pretty lonely, which I will deny if you say to literally anyone else. And -”
“Are you Taehyung’s soulmate?” Jimin asked, mouth dropping open. Yoongi’s mouth dropped a little too in surprise - Taehyung’s soulmate? God, no. To his surprise, though, Jimin looked almost upset about it. “Please don’t tell him I said you were cute. Or that I was creepily admiring you in a grocery store. I swear I wasn’t trying to hit on you, and I don’t want Tae to think -”
“You already said you weren’t hitting on me, Jimin-ah,” he sighed, slipping again into unwarranted unfamiliarity, considering that Jimin had called him Yoongi-ssi twice on the way over. “And I’m not Taehyung’s soulmate. If his soulmate isn’t Jeongguk I’ll eat my hat.” He reached up to flick the brim of his cap to demonstrate. Jimin opened his mouth, eyebrows furrowed, but Yoongi held a hand up. “Can I finish?”
Jimin sighed, closed his mouth, and nodded.
“So, I was impatient and kind of lonely, which again doesn’t leave the two of us because I get teased by my friends e-fucking-nough, and one of said friends suggested that I put a wanted ad on twitter for my soulmate. Taehyung answered, because he recognized the person I described.”
Jimin’s eyebrows stayed furrowed. He nibbled on his lower lip. “Okay, but what does that have to do with me? And how is it invasive?”
Yoongi’s expression softened into a little smile. He knew his cheeks were pink, but he still pulled out his phone and opened his notes app. He had to back out of some lyric ideas and scroll through even more lyric notes, but after a moment he found the draft he was looking for: the note he’d used to figure out what he’d wanted to say in the ad.
He cleared his throat, holding his phone up to read aloud. “Soulmate wanted,” he started, glancing up at Jimin quickly. His palm was a little sweaty, and his heart was pounding in his chest. “First name Jimin. Has eye smiles -” He coughed again, blushing darker. “- blonde hair, and a really infectious laugh. Too nice for his own good and is a dancer. Can’t find him online and I’m about to lose my mind. Lives somewhere in Seoul. Help?”
Jimin blinked at him, eyes very wide.
“Yeah,” Yoongi said quietly, ducking his head. “Taehyung saw that tweet, and basically demanded that I be his friend so he could decide whether or not I was good enough for you. I think he also thought I was a stalker, but he got over that pretty quickly. He wouldn’t tell you about me, though, or tell me how to find you, because he knew you wanted to do the whole organic meeting thing, and…” He shrugged. “That’s what I meant by invasive. Because I’ve been Visiting you for two years and talking about you with your best friend for like three months, and I really just wanted to meet you, but he’s kind of a stubborn little shit, you know?”
Jimin was still staring.
Desperately, Yoongi added, “I swear I’m being honest. I wouldn’t lie about being your soulmate, and I didn’t want to hide from you but Taehyung said you would want to meet without interference. He can vouch for me, if you don’t believe that. I mean, he trusts me enough to send me photos of you, so that should say - oh my god, I’m making it worse. That sounded terrible.” Yoongi shut up, finally, probably pale as a ghost and twice as likely to float away into the ether.
There was a long silence between them. Neither of them touched their coffee.
“You’re my soulmate.”
Yoongi nodded.
“And you put… a wanted ad on Twitter to find me. A wanted ad.”
Yoongi risked a glance across the table. Jimin was still staring, but the corner of his mouth was twitching upward. “It sounded like a good idea at the time,” he muttered. “You don’t have any social media! And I never seemed to catch you when you were somewhere recognizable, like walking by a university sign, or a road.” Jimin’s mouth pinched a little, and true to form, Yoongi started word vomiting at him again. “Not that I didn’t want to respect your wishes or anything - I get wanting to meet naturally, I guess, but it was just that I kept Visiting while you were on the toilet or doing something weird, and I was getting sick of second-hand erections, and - look, I warned you this story was mildly invasive.” A long pause. “I can’t tell if you’re angry or trying not to laugh.”
Jimin broke, his mouth (his gorgeous, gorgeous mouth) breaking into a huge grin.
And - yeah, Jimin was laughing at him. A little pink-cheeked, probably from the fact that Yoongi had literally just admitted to Visiting while he was jerking off, but he was laughing with bright eyes and relaxed shoulders. Yoongi couldn’t look away from his smile.
“This whole time, I was freaking out about getting caught checking out a stranger and he turns out to be my soulmate anyway?” He laughed louder when Yoongi shrugged helplessly. “I felt so guilty! Like I was cheating on my soulmate by being attracted to you! And then I felt guilty for making you think I was interested when I won’t date someone who’s not my soulmate, but it didn’t even matter, because you were you the whole time!”
Yoongi’s mouth twitched into a grin of his own. “You sure know how to pick ‘em.” Jimin giggled even louder, his head tipping back a little with the force of it. “So you’re not mad?” he asked tentatively when Jimin’s giggles tapered off.
Jimin wiped at his eyes just to be a drama queen - he hadn’t been laughing that hard - and gave Yoongi a warm smile. “No, I’m not mad! I mean, I kind of want to punch Taehyung for keeping you from me, but at the same time, meeting like this is a way better story, so…” He shrugged, pink cheeked. “He’s gonna be so smug when he finds out about us, though…”
“So there’s an us,” Yoongi teased, biting his lip to hide a grin of his own.
Jimin’s subsequent sputtering made him laugh. “I assumed you wanted to date me if you went looking for me! Don’t you?”
He reached out, hand open, and waited patiently for Jimin to take it. He held Jimin’s smaller hand in his on top of the table, and gave him a warm, reassuring smile of his own. “Not to lay my cards out on the table, but I’ve been kind of crazy about you since I started Visiting. Of course I want to date you.”
Jimin visibly relaxed. “Okay. Good. I want that, too. I’m really looking forward to getting to know you, soulmate-hyung.” It was a little cheesy, and Jimin clearly knew it judging by his crooked grin and pink cheeks, but Yoongi was thoroughly smitten, even if he wouldn’t admit it.
They chatted for another half an hour, until Yoongi realized he still needed to go home and get ready for Hoseok’s competition and Jimin realized he was going to be late to his warm up for that competition, coincidentally. Apparently, he’d only been in the grocery store to grab some energy drinks, water, and snacks for his team, since their designated snack-person had accidentally left their cooler in their campus studio.
Before they parted, though, Yoongi paused, turning to Jimin. “About Taehyung… let’s not tell him just yet.”
“That we’ve met?” Jimin asked, cocking his head to the side. Yoongi nodded. “Why not? He already knows you, and he’ll be really happy for us.”
Yoongi smirked a little. “Oh, I’m sure he will be… but he also kept us apart for the past three months and used you to blackmail me into being his friend, so I think he can wait a bit to see the fruits of his labor. Don’t you think?”
Jimin stared at him for a minute before bursting into that bright, head-thrown-back laughter Yoongi loved so much. “Alright, hyung, whatever you say,” he agreed. Yoongi nodded.
“Good luck tonight, Jimin-ah. I can’t wait to see you dance in person.” Then, he added, just to be cheeky, “We’ll see how you compare to my best friend. I wonder who will win?” Jimin cackled a little, smacking him on the arm, but he threw the arm not carrying his bag of snacks around Yoongi’s neck and gave him another hug. Before he withdrew, he pressed a quick kiss to Yoongi’s cheek.
He just knew they were both grinning at each other like idiots, but Yoongi couldn’t actually stop himself.
“Here, give me your phone,” Jimin said, making a “gimme” gesture with his hand. “I’ll put my contact in.” Nodding in understanding, he handed it over without hesitation.
He regretted it immediately when Jimin pressed the home button and blinked down at the lock screen. He looked up at Yoongi with the same startled, blank expression he’d had on earlier. “… Taehyung sent you photos of me, huh?”
Flushing, Yoongi yanked his phone back and shoved it in his pocket where Jimin would hopefully never see the “soulmate” folder in his gallery. “Shut up, I told you I really wanted to meet you. You give me your phone.”
Visibly biting back a grin, Jimin did as he was told, and when Yoongi handed it back with the new contact saved, he put it in his pocket and looked up at Yoongi with that half-embarrassed, half-amused expression that made Yoongi want to squish his cheeks.
“I’ll text you, okay? Bye, Yoongi-hyung.”
Yoongi waved a little. “Bye, Jimin.” They parted, and Yoongi went home to completely rethink his outfit for that night in light of the new circumstances.
(Hoseok’s team won, but Jimin received an award for his solo as well. Yoongi managed to sneak in a quick hug on his way to congratulate Hoseok before Taehyung bounded up to congratulate Jimin himself. When Taehyung’s oblivious back was turned, Yoongi threw a giggling Jimin a wink.)
***(Hoseok)***
The front door of the apartment slammed shut.
Hoseok sighed, stirring a pot of noodles in the kitchen. He waited.
“No, Jimin-ah – okay, to be fair, I was like fourteen, and I only told you that to make you feel better about what Jeongguk said! Stop bringing it up, oh my god. Oh my god, you’re bisexual. You’re the last person to be making fun of me like this.”
Hoseok paused, eyes widening, and turned to face the direction Yoongi’s voice was coming from. In spite of what Yoongi was saying, he laughed as he shuffled inside.
“Yah, you little shit. Why do I put up with you? If you say the words awkward bisexual phase one more time, I’m breaking up with you,” Yoongi growled, exasperated, but Hoseok could hear the grin in his voice. “Yes, for a girl! I don’t even like tits, but if you don’t – Hoseok.”
Yoongi paused in the doorway, eyes going wide. He still held the phone up to his ear, but in spite of the faint confused sounds coming from the speaker, he just blinked at Hoseok without saying anything.
Hoseok blinked back.
It took a full minute of who Hoseok could only presume was the aforementioned Jimin getting increasingly annoyed from the other end of Yoongi’s phone call for them to snap out of it.
“Ah –“ Yoongi said, wincing. “Sorry, Jiminnie. I’m going to have to call you back.”
Indistinguishable sounds from the other end.
“Yeah,” he sighed. “Yeah, the time has come. Bye. Yeah, I’ll tell him. Oh, wait – did you…? Okay, good. I – ha, bye, Jimin. Get something to eat.”
Hoseok waited patiently through another two goodbyes before Yoongi finally hung up.
“What,” he said, very slowly. “kind of whipped bullshit was that?” Yoongi just stared at him, confused. Hoseok rolled his eyes. “No you hang up, no you –“
“Shut up,” his friend snapped, flushing almost violet. “That wasn’t what we were doing, don’t be an asshole.”
Hoseok tried and failed to suppress a smirk. “I mean, don’t let me stop you. I just never thought I’d see the day you bought into the cutesy soulmate bullshit that you’ve literally been making fun of people for since you came out of the womb, but don’t let me stop you –“ Hoseok started raising his voice the second Yoongi opened his mouth to protest, but Yoongi just turned pink and slapped at him, grinning a little in embarrassment.
“Fuck off,” Yoongi finally said once Hoseok let him get a word in. “You’re terrible. Aren’t you supposed to be congratulating me?”
Hoseok laughed. “I’d have congratulated you if you’d come to tell me! What have you been keeping it secret for? Not finding out until I catch you talking to him – how unfair!” In spite of his words, Hoseok pulled him close to wrap him in a hug. “I am happy for you, hyung,” he said into Yoongi’s dark hair.
“Yah,” Yoongi huffed, but he threw his arms around Hoseok’s waist for a mere moment before pulling away to embarrassedly ruffle his hair. “Anyway. He might be coming by this weekend if he can get away from Taehyung, so…” He shrugged, trailing off.
Hoseok smiled warmly, pulling his noodles off the oven. “I hope he can make it; can’t wait to meet him.”
Yoongi grinned back, gummy and pleased.
***(Jimin)***
For Jimin, it was a slow, comfortable slide into that warm place where Yoongi surrounded him, took over every thought. It started with the obvious things – his smile, or the way his lips pouted when he talked or thought or existed. But, in no time at all, it was the smaller things – the way Yoongi had an adorable smattering of freckles that mostly congregated on the right side of his nose, or the way he’d get shy when Jimin complimented him or went to touch him, even though Yoongi said all sorts of gentle sappy things to him in quiet moments. Yoongi was grumpy and often contrary, but dedicated and kind in little ways.
It seemed to Jimin that he fell in love with Yoongi between one breath and the next, but he had the easy job. He just had to fall in love with the man who was already in love with him; Yoongi had fallen in love with a perspective, an afterimage.
Jimin was a lucky bastard, and he knew it.
A week before his twentieth birthday, Jimin made the trip to Yoongi’s campus to spend the weekend. The night he arrived, they found themselves watching a film Jimin couldn’t guess the name of, and of the three of them, Yoongi was the only one paying attention. Hoseok was on his phone and Jimin, frankly, was more interested in the way Yoongi was tracing patterns on Jimin’s right thigh. He’d thrown both of his legs over Yoongi’s lap, under the guise of comfort, but really he was just trying to get as close as was appropriate while sitting in a room with Yoongi’s best friend.
He only just managed to get Yoongi’s attention back on him with a kiss to the jaw when his phone went off.
Groaning, Jimin pulled back to squirm just enough that he could wrestle his phone from his pocket – and promptly raised his eyebrow at Yoongi, whose phone chimed a second afterwards.
“A hundred won says it’s Taehyung,” Yoongi deadpanned, and Jimin snickered, giving the power button a quick tap with his thumb.
“No bet, but I will raise you two hundred that it’s about Kook,” he offered.
“Do I look new?”
Jimin giggled a little to himself, opening the message. They both ignored Hoseok in the background, muttering about how they really were perfect for each other.
Yoongi and Jimin were silent for the thirty seconds it took to read, re-read, and re-re-read the messages.
Yoongi slowly looked up over at Jimin, his cat-like eyes wide. His eyebrows were practically in his hairline. “Of the two…”
“I thought it would be Tae who confessed,” Jimin finished, a grin beginning to spread over his mouth. “Oh, I’m going to hold this over his head forever. When do we start placing bets that they never Visit?”
Jimin’s stomach felt a little fluttery when Yoongi laughed. “Do I look new?” he asked again, snorting. He shifted in place, an arm around Jimin’s shins to keep his legs where they were. “Seriously, do I give off an air of stupid? Those two are so meant to be and I haven’t even met them.”
“Wait,” Jimin said, and Yoongi paused, cocking his head to the side in confusion. “You’ve never met Tae? He talks about you all the time, so I just assumed you’ve hung out!”
Yoongi shrugged, leaning back against the sofa to get comfortable again. “I mean, maybe we have met briefly without knowing it – we both grew up in Daegu – but nah, we haven’t hung out in person. We just text and call a lot.”
Jimin sat back, genuinely surprised. “I had no idea. You’re such good friends now! Imagine how much better it’ll be in person.” Then, he snickered, unable to suppress the mental image that came to him with the thought. “Double dates, Yoongi-hyung. We’re gonna go on double dates, and you’re going to pretend to hate it, and it’s going to be awesome.”
He got a heavy eye roll in response, but Yoongi also kissed his cheek, so he was pretty sure he had it in the bag.
***(Taehyung)***
Taehyung was a self proclaimed very-good-world-champion best bro, which was why when Jimin started smiling to himself a lot and wouldn’t detach from his phone, a sick feeling settled in his stomach within the first week of that behavior becoming common.
He was a very-good-world-champion best bro… and a really great dongsaeng, too, which made it really hard for him to be happy for Jimin.
He tried to snoop, but Jimin had put passwords on his devices and logged off his computer whenever he wasn’t in the room as though he’d known that Taehyung would go looking for the truth. It wasn’t fair.
Taehyung wanted to be happy for him. It was obvious that Jimin had found someone he was interested in, and even though Taehyung would support him through anything, he couldn’t picture witnessing Yoongi’s inevitable heartbreak. He’d been dubious at first, but… he knew Yoongi. Even more importantly, he knew how dedicated Yoongi was to Jimin. He’d thought it would be safe to make him wait, because Jimin was such a soulmate-romantic, but he couldn’t stop it if Jimin met someone he clicked with.
He didn’t tell Yoongi immediately – he couldn’t bear to, not and end up being wrong – but after three weeks, he couldn’t keep pretending he wasn’t seeing what was happening.
He had to wait until Yoongi got back from the studio late one night, but once he got the all clear in the form of a text that said now what do you want you heathen you’ve texted me fourteen times, he called Yoongi over Kakaotalk.
Yoongi looked both tired and grumpy when he answered the video call. “Taehyung, I’m tired. Can’t it wait?”
He shook his head. “Sorry, hyung – I didn’t want to wait.”
Yoongi settled, his expression going from irritated to concerned. Taehyung was unusually serious, so he could understand, but it didn’t make it easier. “Taehyung, what’s going on? Is it Jeongguk?”
Taehyung shook his head. “I don’t know how to say this.”
“Just do it, Tae-ah.”
He swallowed. “I think Jimin is seeing someone. Maybe? He’s just been acting really weird and he won’t talk to me at all about it. I thought it would be okay to wait until Jimin’s first Visit to tell him about you, but I think maybe he met someone? I don’t know, Yoongi-hyung.”
There was a long silence where Yoongi just stared forward. His expression was very blank.
“Yoongi-hyung?” Tae bit at his lip. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know how to tell him to stop without, y’know. Ruining everything.” When Yoongi just blinked at him, he frowned even deeper, hating the way his eyes stung. “I guess… I did that. I’m so sorry.” He hung his head.
He didn’t know if it was his apology or if Yoongi came out of his stupor on his own, but his attention was caught by a soft shit from the speaker. “Tae-ah. You didn’t ruin anything; you’re fine. Everything’s fine.”
“But Jimin –“
Yoongi shushed him. His eyes were softer than Taehyung had ever seen them. “Taehyung, life happens. It’s okay. If we’re meant to be, we will be. Remember, I dated before I had my first Visit, too.”
“I just feel like I should have… done something,” he admitted. “Like I was so caught up with the Kookie thing that I forgot that you and Jiminnie are meant to be together, too, and I was supposed to be helping.”
Yoongi, to his surprise, gave a little snort of laughter. “You weren’t helping, you ass, you were hindering. I only put up with you at this point because I like you as a person, not because you’ve been helping me and Jimin get together.” Unable to help it, Taehyung grinned at him a little.
“You’re not upset?” he asked again, just to be sure, and was relieved when Yoongi shook his head.
“Nah. What will be will be, remember?”
“Yeah,” Taehyung agreed. “Anyway. Since that’s out of the way… want to hear about the place Kookie and I went last night?”
Yoongi agreed, and Taehyung let thoughts of his boyfriend-maybe-soulmate distract him from the nagging feeling like he’d ruined everything.
***(Yoongi)***
“We’ve got to tell him,” Yoongi deadpanned when Jimin picked up the phone. He was lying in bed, his phone pressed to his left ear. His voice was a little muffled by the pillow – sue him, he was tired – but Jimin was pretty good at deciphering his mumbling. “He’s going to eat himself alive with guilt.”
“Taehyung?” Jimin asked, immediately on the same page, not even miffed at the lack of proper greeting. He hummed. “I agree. I think it’s weird to be keeping it from him, and he keeps trying to hack into my phone.”
“Do you want to do a meet up or something?” Yoongi asked, yawning. “I could come over, maybe? Or you guys could come here. You could say you wanted to introduce him to your boyfriend.”
There was a long silence.
“Jimin.”
A long hum.
Yoongi groaned. “You’re not thinking…”
“Double date, hyung,” Jimin told him smugly. “I told you. I told you we would go on a double date.”
“And that I would hate it.”
Jimin laughed. “That you would pretend to hate it. You can’t fool me; you love both of us.” Yoongi hated that the sound of Jimin’s laughter made him smile to himself like a sap, but he hated that Jimin was right even more.
“Ugh, shut up. Send me the details in the AM.”
“Kay.” Yoongi could hear the smile in his voice. “Get some sleep, hyung.”
Yoongi bit his lip to hide the answering smile that tugged at his lips. “Night, soulmate.”
He heard Jimin make a little sound that wasn’t quite a squeal but definitely wasn’t not a squeal, either. “Night, soulmate.”
A week and a half later, Yoongi found himself meeting up with Jimin around the corner from the small café where he’d agreed to meet Taehyung and Jeongguk.
Jimin was leaning against the wall, his phone in hand, but he looked up as if he could sense Yoongi’s presence. He had a gorgeous smile painted across his face.
“You ready for this, soulmate?” Yoongi asked, raising an eyebrow as he walked up.
The soulmate-nickname thing had started as a joke, but, well. Yoongi was already predisposed toward nicknames. He liked the intimacy of it, as well as the way it made Jimin blush. As a result, he hadn’t stopped doing it.
“Ready,” Jimin answered, and reached out to pull Yoongi for a quick kiss before they stepped around the corner onto the street the café was on. He put his phone in his pocket and took up Yoongi’s hand. “He’s either going to be so happy he cries or angry and I can’t decide which.”
Yoongi snickered. “Both.”
Jimin laughed. “The question is, will he hug us or slap us first?”
“My bet’s on slap.”
“You can’t bet on what you would do,” he chuckled, swinging their hands lightly. “You’ve got to think about what Taehyung would do!” They stopped outside the café. Through the windows, they could see Taehyung and the man who could only be Jeongguk, heads together as they looked down at one of their phones.
They paused briefly, but Jimin squeezed his hand. Without meaning to, Yoongi grinned at him softly, and Jimin gave him the eye smile that Yoongi had never quite seen in Visits and had taken his breath away the first time they’d met in person.
Jimin led them both inside – his friend, Yoongi claimed, so he had to take the lead – but Yoongi was strangely calm as they walked over to Taehyung and Jeongguk’s table, quirking an eyebrow just in time for Taehyung to look up at them and drop his jaw in shock.
There was a very long moment of complete pin-drop silence before Taehyung shrieked.
“You – what the hell?” Taehyung hollered, indignant. “Are you kidding me?”
Jimin, predictably, broke immediately and started cackling. Yoongi had to press his lips together to suppress a smirk. He’d been determined to be casual about it, but he hadn’t really expected Jimin to do the same.
“Did you really think your bleeding heart romantic best friend would ever settle for less than me?” Yoongi asked, his eyebrow raised so high he was sure it was into his hairline. “Shame on you, Taehyung. You should know better.”
Taehyung scrambled out of his seat and rushed toward them. He slapped Yoongi on the chest with one hand and Jimin on the arm with the other. “You let me feel terrible about this whole thing for like two and a half weeks and it was you all along? You’re the mystery boyfriend? Hyung!”
Yoongi gave him a little snicker. “Of course I am. As if Jimin would ever fall for someone else. Don’t be stupid – weren’t you the one who told me about all his cute soulmate fantasies?” he teased, and Jimin laughed even louder, slapping Yoongi in embarrassment. He pressed his face into Yoongi’s shoulder, and Yoongi squeezed his hand with the biggest, most charming grin he could muster.
Taehyung pouted, and behind him Jeongguk snickered a little bit himself. “I was supposed to be the one to introduce you and make you guys happy forever, but now you’re here! Together!”
“That is what’s happening,” Yoongi agreed. “Can we sit down and get food now? I’m hungry.”
Taehyung grumbled, but Jeongguk pulled him back down into their seats. “Nice to meet you, Yoongi-ssi,” Jeongguk chirped. Something in Yoongi wanted to pat him on the head. He resisted and sat down instead.
“Nice to meet you, Jeongguk,” Yoongi said, nodding back. He let Jimin tug his chair closer, resisting the urge to smirk smugly at Jimin’s need to show them off. “You can call me hyung, no need for formalities.”
“You didn’t give me permission to call you hyung!” Taehyung protested. Jimin snorted.
“That’s because you just started doing it without asking,” Yoongi sighed. “C’mon, cut the theatrics. Aren’t you happy for us at all? Or to see me?” Jeongguk and Jimin giggled at the way Taehyung just spluttered at him.
“Of course I’m happy to see you,” Taehyung said defensively. “But you two still should have told me. When and how?”
Jimin perked up. “Oh – let me tell the story!” he exclaimed, as though Yoongi had been just jumping to tell it. He looked almost stupidly excited about getting the opportunity to tell his own romantic first meeting story, and Yoongi couldn’t take that away from him, even if it made him chuckle to himself.
Instead of teasing him, Yoongi just leaned back in his chair, smiled, and said, “Tell them ‘bout our meet-cute, Jiminnie.”
Of course it was when Jimin was really getting into the story that Yoongi paused, something hitting him. “Hey!” They all paused. “I was right – Taehyung did slap us first.”
Maybe Jimin was just in a giggly mood, but it made him laugh again and lose track of the story. Even Taehyung was startled into a laugh.
“As opposed to what?” Taehyung asked.
Jimin gave him that sunshine grin. “We were trying to figure out if you’d be happy or mad about us being together without telling you. Yoongi was right.” He said this with a little tilt of his head, pushing his temple against Yoongi’s shoulder.
Taehyung, in spite of himself, gave them a huge smile. “I always knew you would be cute together.”
“You mean after you stopped thinking I was a stalker?”
“Yeah,” Taehyung agreed, not even phased. “After that. And for the record, I’m not even mad that you hid it from me because I’m so happy for you two. Who’s been rooting for you from the beginning? It’s me. It’s been me this whole time.” Jeongguk rolled his eyes heavily, but his lips pinched to hide a smile.
“You hid him from me!” Jimin exclaimed, clutching at Yoongi’s arm. He wasn’t really a clingy person, but he was quickly learning that he loved the fact that Jimin was. “You can’t claim to be our biggest fan when you’re the one who kept us apart!”
“But I’m the one who let you have your cute meeting!” he protested, very clearly trying not to laugh. Yoongi didn’t call him on it. “Don’t I get best friend points for that?”
“You don’t need points,” Jeongguk complained. “You’re already inseparable.” He said it quietly – still awkward, not the kind of person to warm instantly to strangers like Taehyung, but he still gives Yoongi a small grin when he snorts in agreement.
“Okay, forget the points,” Taehyung said, holding both hands across the table. Jimin took the one reached out to him, but Yoongi just squinted at him and raised an eyebrow. After a long minute, he rolled his eyes and took Taehyung’s hand. “I’m happy for you guys. Bottom line.”
Yoongi, finally, softened and let a huge grin take over his face. “Yeah, me too.”
“You’re happy for us?” Jimin asked. Yoongi was pretty sure his charming little grin hadn’t slipped once since they’d arrived.
Yoongi shrugged, smirking a little. “Big fan of my own happiness,” he said with a shrug, and Jimin muffled his laugh in Yoongi’s shoulder. Even Taehyung snickered. “But I guess I’m happy for you, too,” he added, nodding toward Jeongguk.”
Taehyung turned a little pink, but Jeongguk grinned.
Yoongi took up Jimin’s hand again. He grinned lazily. “We getting food, or what?”
Taehyung turned twenty a little over two months later with no fanfare. He didn’t Visit. When Yoongi and Jimin left that night to go back to Yoongi and Hoseok’s apartment, Yoongi pressed a kiss to his hair and murmured, “Meant to be, Taehyung-ah.”
Taehyung nodded, and squeezed Jeongguk’s hand as if in reply.